Sales to Customer Success Handoff Template to aid in your customer onboarding process
Getting a new customer on board is always good news, but still not quite time to pack it up yet. The customer’s purchase continues into the next stage, where the focus is on swift adoption of your product. Having a clear handoff process between the sales department and customer success team keeps that momentum going and reduces the risk of losing the customer.
What is a Sales to Customer Success Handoff?
The Sales to Customer Success Handoff takes place during the gap between when a sale is completed and when implementation begins. After a customer agrees to a sale, they need a demonstration of the implementation to fully understand how to use your product. Getting this handoff right matters for customer care and for turning new customers into repeat buyers. For any business, customer retention is vital to success as it leads to repeated purchases and a lower cost. In fact, the cost of acquisition for new customers can go up to five times more than retaining one.
An effective Sales to Customer Success Handoff is one that achieves complete knowledge transfer, has clear goals, and can meet expectations. From a customer standpoint, a successful handoff will seem like there is no interruption from stage to stage.
Why do you need a Sales to Customer Success Handoff?
When the sales cycle is met with a change of the point of contact, it creates a friction point. Here, the customer could lose interest during this interruption, no matter how well your sales pitch went. Sales and Customer Success teams have to ensure that new customers are promptly onboarded through a smooth handoff to maximize the customer’s perceived value.
Because this is handled separately, it is essential for teams to practice open communication and pay attention during this stage. A sloppy handoff, such as one where the customer success rep misses the customer’s details, or fails to demonstrate the proper implementation, can lead to frustration and tension on both ends. It usually happens for a specific reason: the AE fills in the handoff fast to close out the deal and move to the next one, so goals and pain points get typed in vague, generic terms instead of the customer’s own words, and the first onboarding call ends up repeating the sales pitch instead of building on it.
Having a pre-designed Sales to Customer Success Handoff Template can come in handy when team members want to fill out information accurately and quickly.
What should be included in the Sales to Customer Success Handoff?
Your Sales to Customer Success Handoff Template should include the following elements:
Customer Background Information
You will have all these details the moment you meet with the customer. It’s important that your colleagues in the Customer Success (CS) teams are familiar with who they are working with, in terms of size, decision maker, industry and purpose of use.
Contract Details
CS reps can plan tailored demonstrations based on the contract details, such as plan types and specific features.
Current situation and pain points
The template articulates the situation and pain points that have led to the sale. This presents an opportunity for the CS rep to show empathy and address any concerns on a personal level.
Goals
To manage expectations of both the CS teams and customers, the handoff needs to communicate clear goals. Team members should be as descriptive as possible to eliminate repetition or ambiguity.
Implementation Details
The implementation details indicate to the person taking over how much time is needed to carry out the product demonstration. They can then assess if there are any extra steps needed or precautions to take based on the company’s existing software.
Work and Communication Style
To minimize the risk of frustration, CS reps can accommodate the customer’s work and communication style during the sales cycle. Understanding their preferences helps the process run smoothly from start to finish.
